Combined fastener.



E. BUZZARD.

COMBINED FASTENER.

- APPLICATION FILED MAR. 27 mg.

l 1 97, 9Q, Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

mr NORRIS r-nnu m. rnomumm. vusumamv. n. c

COMBINED FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

Application filed March 27, 1916. Serial No. 87,064.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMMETT BUZZARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Clarksburg, in the county of'I-Iarrison and State of Nest Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Fasteners; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to buckles, clasps, etc., and more especially to devices of this kind known as combined fasteners; and the object of the same is to produce a fastener between two members (herein described as the opposite ends of a belt or the like) which combines an easily separable fastener that is used each time the members are connected or disconnected, with an adjustable fastener that is to be used only when an adjustment becomes necessary, as when the belt becomes loose. The separable fastener is herein shown and described as of the stud-andsocket variety which I prefer but to which I do not wish to be confined, and the adjustable fastener is a clasp buckle which I always prefer for the reason set forth.

Further details will be found in the following specification, reference being hadto the drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevation with the members slightly separated. Fig. 2 is aplan view of the end of the male member with the buckle clasp thrown open, and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on the line 3-8 of Fig. 2, while Fig. 4: is a perspective view of this end of the device with the strap member removed. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the inner side of the other member or strap-end.

In the drawings I have used the letters M and F to respectively designate the two members which it is desired to connect. These may be of any suitable material, preferably flexible such as leather; and while this view shows them as separate, they might of course be and probably are the opposite ends of a leather belt to be'worn around the waist. On this understanding, the member M may be called the male member and the member F the female. My invention provides a separable fastener for connecting and disconnecting these members, and an adjustable fastener by which one element of F is passed after the connection is made.

the separable fastener is attached to the member M.

The separable fastener in the present instance is illustrated as a stud 1 carried by and projecting forward from the male member M, and a series of sockets 2 and 8 (or there might be more) carried by the female member F and adapted to be snapped over the stud, so that the free end or tip 4 of the member F may extend beyond the other fastener (yet to be described) and overlie and hide the same from view. Said adjustable fastener by preference carries a link or loop 5 which lies behind the male memher and engages with a ring or runner 6 which loosely surrounds the member M at a little distance from its extremity 7 and through this runner the tip 4 of the member If a stud-and-socket connection is used, it will be quite clear that the parts of this fastener may be connected and disconnected quickly; and if a plurality of sockets are employed it will be obvious that the wearer could adjust the size of the belt to his waist by using the proper socket at the proper time. Let us assume, however, that he grows thinner and it is desired to reduce the length of the belt so that the one socket 2 or any of the several sockets when connected with the stud will fasten the belt around him a little more tightly. The means for attaining this end will now be described.

The adjustable fastener consists of a buckle of the clasp type. The buckle body is a flat plate 10 of rectangular contour and from about whose center rises the stud 1. One edge of this plate is bent downward in a shoulder 11 and extended thence into a lip 12 preferably having a slot 13 for the loop 5, and the ends of this lip are bent up into ears 16 as best seen in Fig. 4:. The clasp consists of a serrated jaw 17 having trunnions 18 at its extremities journaled in eyes in said ears at points to cause the teeth of the jaw to grip the extremity 7 of the member M as seen in Fig. 3, and the jaw is continued beyond the trunnions 18 into a handle 19 pref erably having tangs 20 at its ends so shaped that they overlie the body 10 when this jaw is closed, as best seen in Fig. 1. Said body may be covered with leather as indicated at 21 in Fig. 3, and the leather may be continued down over the shoulder 11 as shown at 22. In attaching memberMto this buckle its extremity 7 is passed over the lip 12 and under the aw 17 when the latter is raised, and borne against the shoulder 11 or the covering 22 thereof if employed; then the jaw is turned on its trunnions by throwing its handle 19 forward, and its teeth embed the member M and press the latter against the lip 12. The handle now lies substantially flush with the leather covering 21 of the plate 10 as perhaps best seen in Fig. 1, because the shoulder 11 carries the lip 12 down below the plate or its cover for about the thickness of the member M as seen in Fig. 3. When such a belt is applied to the waist, the member F is carried around and laid over the plate 10 and across the handle 19, and then drawn upon until one of the sockets such as 2 or 3 may be snapped over the stud 1. If another type of separable fastener were used instead of the stud and socket shown, the action would be substantially the same. The free end or tip a is then passed under the runner 6, which latter cannot escape because it is held by the loop 5. If the wearer wants his belt tight at that time or loose at that time, he may use theappropriate socket if there are more than one. It may occur, however, that in order to fit such a belt to a purchaser or to adapt it to a wearer who has grown thin, it is desired to shorten the belt permanently. This is done by throwing up the handle 19 and opening the buckle, withdrawing the member M therefrom and cutting off perhaps an inch at its extremity 7 then reinserting it in the buckle and fastening it in place, and using the shorter belt as above described. Thus the buckle or adjustable fastener is useful only for reducing the size of the belt, whereas the separable fastener is'used when the belt is put on or taken off, but could be used for adjusting the size of the belt if so desired; and it could be easily adapted to this purposeif it were of the stud-and-socket type, by pr oviding a plurality of sockets.

It will be understood without further ex- Copies of this patent may be obtained for planation that the studs and sockets might be reversed from the position shown. But I prefer to mount the stud on plate 10- mainly because it is this element and the associated buckle which usually give to a belt the irregular appearance which it has in front.

It will be seen that the tip 4: of the member F, after being engaged with the device at the end of the member M, is not passed through any part of the buckle or any part of the member M, and even the runner if it be employed is so remote from the fasteners that it does not increase the thickness referred to as objectionable. The shoulder 11 causes the outer face of the plate 10 to be substantially flush with the outer face of the member M, and the parts are constructed and arranged with the idea that the two members will overlie each other as closely as possible.

What I claim is:

In a device of the class described, the combination with a plate dropped at one edge in a shoulder and having a depressed lip beyond said shoulder upturned at its ends into ears, a covering for the plate, and a stud rising therefrom through the covering; of a jaw having trunnions pivoted in said ears and a handle adapted to lie on the covering when the jaw is turned toward the lip, a member of the thickness of said sh'oulder adapted to be clamped between the jaw and lip with its outer face substantially flush with that of the covering, a second member adapted to overlie the plate, handle, and first member, a socket in the second member for engaging said stud, a runner loose on the first member, and a loop connecting it with the lip.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EMMETT BUZZARD.

Witnesses:

H. E. READER, F. K. DAWSON.

Washington, D. C. 

